<p>I've been browsing these forums a bit recently and have found you to be very knowledgeable about econ and management science at NU and in general, and if you don't mind, I have a few questions. Let me start off by saying that I'm very, very interested in econ and math, and have found myself pretty much overwhelmed by the number of opportunities to study both and related fields at NU. There are a number of programs I'm interested in, but I know there's no way I can do them all. My current plan is to try for the 4 year BA/MA in econ with a minor in math (I would only need two extra classes), but I'm also interested in MMSS, a double major with the IEORMS dept at the engineering school, and the certificate program with Kellogg. Right now the 4 year BA/MA seems like the best deal, but I'm not completely sure. Do you know which program or combination of programs are the best for future job/grad school placement? Do you know how hard it is to get into the 4 year BA/MA? Do you know anyone who did any combination of these programs and how tough it was/how they're doing now? As a side note, i got a 5 on AP calc last year, took multivariable this year, and emailed the department head, who said I could probably start out with linear algebra. Help with all or any of these questions would be great.</p>
<ol>
<li>Are you in MMSS yet? If not, you need to decide if you want to do it and talk to the program director to see if they can still let you in (some admits in the past were able to do that in April). Sophomore entry is very difficult.</li>
<li>BA/MA is pretty selective and is supposed to be pretty intensive (makes sense since you will be taking courses with PhD candidates at one of the best econ depts in the world). It seems like if you do this, you can’t double-major anything else. [Undergraduate:</a> BA/MA Program, Economics Dept., NU](<a href=“http://www.econ.northwestern.edu/undergraduate/fouryear.html]Undergraduate:”>http://www.econ.northwestern.edu/undergraduate/fouryear.html)</li>
<li>Kellogg cert is selective but I’d say it may be a bit easier to get in than MMSS (sophomore entry) or econ BA/MA simply because the two certificate programs have a total of 100 slots.</li>
<li>Econ/IEMS double-major would be the easiest to achieve. Almost half of the 2007 IEMS graduates finished the major requirement of econ.</li>
<li>If I were you, I’d either do econ/MMSS (if you can get the director to let you in this month) or econ/IEMS. The Kellogg certificate would naturally fall into place if you get good grades.</li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks for the quick reply. Do you have any reason in particular for recommending a double major over the 4 year MA, or is it just because it’s easier to do?</p>
<p>vanillachocolate,
Because the chance of getting BA/MA is slim and it doesn’t seem like you can squeeze MMSS or IEMS into the 4yr BA/MA; so in the process, you are giving up a double-major for something that you may not get at the end. It’s up to you if you wanna take the risk. I could be wrong about not being able to squeeze MMSS in though. Maybe you could. I leave that up to you to come up with the schedule.</p>
<p>Should be based on personal preference and aptitude. MMSS is more math oriented; I think IEMS, while probably having more busy work (group projects…etc), is a little easier in terms of difficulty of materials/concepts.</p>
<p>Hmmmmmmmmmmm…MMSS with the MA would actually be very doable if there wasn’t a thesis requirement for the former. I know the website says the MA is “very selective”, but it seems to me that so many kids are doing MMSS or IEMS by the “I’d rather do this for sure than take a risk” logic that not many people wind up applying for the MA. When you say chances of acceptance are slim, do you mean that from firsthand experience? I know that the engineering schools has guaranteed 4 year MAs for people with GPA>=3.5. I could be completely off base here, but it seems that pretty much everyone who meets the, granted, very rigorous requirements for consideration (including the GPA>=3.6) would be granted admission (to the Econ MA).</p>
<p>Sam Lee, I’ve been looking into the iems/econ 4 year program. The only thing is, what are the requirements for the iems degree? Like do I need to take straight engineering courses that other engineers are required to take? Like will I be taking physics or other like courses that don’t really have to do with econ/finance?</p>
<p>“4 courses from at least two of the basic science areas; no more than 2 from earth sciences/astronomy. Physics 135-2 and one quarter of chemsitry are recommended.”</p>
<p>I didn’t know IEMS has such an <em>easy</em> science requirement. Looks like you got lucky!</p>
<p>You can talk to the department directly and then decide accordingly. I just vaguely remember someone said only a few were selected but I could be completely misinformed. The difference between engineering and econ is that there are way more econ majors than any engineering majors. Also, engineering majors are encouraged to pursue graduate studies elsewhere and most NU engineering students can get into MS of their choice (Many good MS programs are not that hard to get in and most NU students can do well on GRE). So there really aren’t that many people that would end up doing BS/MS at NU.</p>
<p>I am deciding between Northwestern vs. Berkelery for English major. Why is Northwestern better than Berkelery? Is it easy to transfer to the communication school if I want to major in advertising?</p>
<p>OK, for anyone who’s curious, I did in fact email the department about the 4 year BA/MA. There’s only one person doing it this year, two applying for next year, and apparently most students who do it tend to be MMSS students, so I guess the double thesis thing isn’t a big deal or they find some other time to do it. Thanks for all your help Sam, and I hope this helps anyone else interested in it.</p>